Donald Trump has been the subject of virtually continuous parody and mocking. It’s so easy to do. He will be the source of material for comedians for some time to come. He is a fool, a clown. It’s obvious.
However, it may be too obvious. He, as was Ronald Regan, is an actor (Regan in movies and TV, Trump in TV). What you see may be in the script, including the apparent stupidity and ignorance.
Trump’s February 16 press conference has been derided as unhinged and a meltdown. Thom Hartmann has another opinion that seems quite well founded.
His analysis is convincing considering that Trump is indeed an actor, is comfortable with being on camera, comfortable with a script, and managed to convince a lot of people during his campaign that he is something that he is not.
Thom Hartmann says that Trump is not as stupid as he appears. I agree. Yes, he has had many dramatic business failures. Every one of them has managed to take down someone else, not him. That is probably not an accident.
Many have called Steve Bannon the president, the puppeteer of Trump’s character. That appears to be more likely and serious than many have thought. Thom Hartmann’s opinion is that Steve Bannon has scripted this entire show in order to raise support from the right wing and basically put the Republicans, who may not be with the program, in line with the program.
Right after the press conference, Trump was off campaigning. The next presidential election is three years away. What’s the point of campaigning now? To us it looks cocky, self-aggrandizing, and actually kind of dumb or at least a waste of time. It isn’t. Trump (and/or his script writer) is consolidating support. Why does he need support?
Hartmann cites specific reference to Indivisible group strategies and right wing methods of countering them. That is the point of Trump consolidating his support. Part of the script is claims that the activists are paid to do so. We don’t believe it, we know that is false, but Team Trump, the army of his supporters, does. That gets them even more aggravated and ready to do battle.
Mocking Trump helps consolidate his support. He has a vast array of ultra right supporters. They will jump into action in support of their hero. The more he is mocked and derided, the more effective the strategy behind him.
We are in for a battle. We knew that. However, this is going to be a much more serious and protracted battle than we expected. We are not mobilizing against stupid or distracted people. We are mobilizing against a serious political machine.
Indivisible started with the use of Tea Party tactics against the Republicans. Steve Bannon now appears to be using Tea Party tactics against the resistance.
There can be no letup in the effort we expend; we can’t become complacent, and we can’t afford to assume we are only opposing just a clown and his crew. We need to pay attention to what the apparent clown show is doing and give serious consideration to why. We are doing battle with a very serious and dangerous opponent.
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Thos